Emanuel James "Jim" Rohn was one of the most profound motivational speakers of modern America. Rim's audience connected with him as he himself was a poster child of classic rags-to-riches story. He would speak from his own experiences and it struck the right chord.
In this story below, he recounts the 'nitty-gritty reasons' which implored him to turn his life around.
It was the time when Rohn was married and had a petty job which enabled him to feed his family. One fine day he was relaxing at his home when someone knocked at the front door.
He says, "When I opened the door I looked down to see a pair of big brown eyes staring up at me. There stood a frail little girl of about 10. She told me, with all the courage and determination her little heart could muster, that she was selling Girl Scout cookies. It was a masterful presentation—several flavors, a special deal, and only two dollars per box. How could anyone refuse? Finally, with a big smile and ever so politely, she asked me to buy. And I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to!
Except for one thing. I didn’t have two dollars! Boy, was I embarrassed! Here I was—a father, had been to college, was gainfully employed—and yet I didn’t have two dollars to my name. Naturally, I couldn’t tell this to the little girl with the big brown eyes. So I did the next best thing. I lied to her. I said, “Thanks, but I’ve already bought Girl Scout cookies this year. And I’ve still got plenty stacked in the house.”Now that simply wasn’t true. But it was the only thing I could think of to get me off the hook. And it did. The little girl said, “That’s okay, sir. Thank you very much.” And with that she turned around and went on her way.I stared after her for what seemed a very long time. Finally, I closed the door behind me and, leaning my back to it, cried out, “I don’t want to live like this anymore. I’ve had it with being broke, and I’ve had it with lying. I’ll never be embarrassed again by not having any money in my pocket.” That day I promised myself to earn enough to always have several hundred dollars in my pocket at all times. This is what I mean by a nitty-gritty reason. It may not win me any prize for greatness, but it was enough to have a permanent effect on the rest of my life. My Girl-Scout-cookie story does have a happy ending."
Here are some famous quotes by the motivational speaker Jim Rohn.
